Mark Pearson
Position: San Juan Citizens Alliance

Green business will not save you or the climate

The promise of green business is a lie. As a person who pursued sustainable business strategies at the country’s largest organizations for close to 14 years, this statement is a...

Natural gas: Its footprint is larger than you think

In 2011, researchers from Cornell University caused an uproar when they published a study that found methane emissions from shale natural-gas development and use had a bigger greenhouse gas ...

Criticism of fracking, health study misses mark

Tuesday’s editorial in The Durango Herald, “Fracking flap,” correctly pointed out the common confusion with interpreting scientific studies by the lay public. Much of the rest of the editori...

Gas, oil industry should be treated like any other

There is a raging debate in Colorado, and nationally, about fracking. Part of the debate is semantic, centered around different ways in which the term fracking is used. ...

Wilderness Act turns 50 – it’s time to celebrate

You don’t miss your water till the well runs dry. It is easy to take things for granted, even really important things: our family, our jobs, the beautiful area in which we live,...

A harsh, costly legacy left by dirty energy

When most people think of reasons to oppose nuclear energy, they think of the risk of catastrophic failure at the power plant and the lack of any long-term solution for the spent, highly rad...

Solar gardens can make local power a reality

La Plata Electric Association is taking applications from those interested in developing up to 2 megawatts of local community solar gardens. It is a great step forward. A communit...

Land plans: The good, bad and unfinished

The new management plans for the public lands of Southwest Colorado are finally complete. There are two plans, one covers the Tres Rios Field Office of the Bureau of Land Management, the oth...

Sorry affair with the Navajo Mine leaves public out

In 1957, the Utah Construction Co. leased lands on the Navajo Nation to mine coal, and the Navajo Mine was begun. The mine always has been, and continues to be, the only coal sup...

BLM owes public greater clarity on drilling rules

The long-awaited new Resource Management Plan for the Tres Rios Field Office of the Bureau of Land Management, which covers the lands of Southwest Colorado, finally has been released. ...

Stewardship of our forests requires balance

Seeing the forest for the trees can be a frustrating experience, even if you’re a forester with decades of experience stewarding our public forests. Appropriate stewardship of a...

Time to protect integrity of area around Chaco

Last week, the Society for American Archaeology, New Mexico Archaeological Council, Chaco Alliance, WildEarth Guardians and San Juan Citizens Alliance petitioned the Bureau of Land Managemen...